More Than Meets the Eye
by LightningEvee
Summary: Ego is dead and the ramifications spread throughout the galaxy, especially on Earth. The Guardians end up on Earth by pure chance (commonly known as a writer controlling the characters) and Peter runs into someone he thought was long since dead (his mother). There is some slight Peter/Gamora shipping going in in later chapters. Rated T for curses that are bleeped out.
1. Back Home

The hum of the Milano's engines soothed the pilot Peter Quill. The guardians had no mission, no instructions, they were adrift aimlessly looking for some mission, some battle to jump into just to do something. The whole team was getting restless. Gamora was sharpening her sword for what seemed like the 8,000th time since their last mission. Rocket disassembled and reassembled some overly destructive weapon, made explosives, you could tell he was bored. Drax slept like always, and Groot was doing his adorable baby dance to the song "Brandy". Peter sang along, "Brandy" was one of his mother's favorites, if not her sole favorite song. After his encounter with his father, this song brought him to the verge of tears, but he didn't cry. Captains don't cry.

Peter was brought back to reality by the sight of a collapsing building below him. Peter started to land the Milano on the surface of the planet. "All right crew, it's time for some heroism." Gamora stood up behind him sheathing her sword. She leaned against his chair,

"What planet is this?"

"Don't know, don't care. It's an excuse to get off this ship." Peter landed the ship and opened the doors.

Everyone exited with a sense of freedom. Feeling joy as after days of being stuck in a small spaceship, they finally were able to breathe real, unsynthesized air. Peter assessed the situation and heard Rocket yell "Groot, I haven't felt this free since we escaped that moon the Kree call a jail. (Author's note: Agents of Shield anyone?)

"I am Groot."

"I know it was my fault we were there."

"I am Groot."

"Shut the F*%# up!" Peter turned at the arguing teammates, and scolded them.

"Guys, there is a falling building in front of us. Can you finish this argument later." Peter said.

"Fine, but this isn't over."

"I am Groot."

"I swear to God."

"Rocket, not now." Quill interjected. "Rocket, do you have any grappling hooks?"

"What kind of question is that, of course I do."

"Great, Groot, how strong are your vines?"

"I am Groot."

"Ok, that will do. Groot, Rocket you guys try to pull the building back to an upright position. Gamora, Drax, and I will go and evacuate the building. Peter tapped the machine on his neck deploying his mask. "Guardians, let's go!"

Rocket and Groot did exactly as they were told and stopped the building from tilting any further using their tools. Rocket hooked the grappling hook to the top of the building. He tried to retract his hook to pull back the building, but the rotor just shines and didn't budge. Rocket looked over and saw that Groot couldn't pull the building up either. Rocket tapped his coms and alerted Peter of the situation. "Quill?"

"Yeah?" came the voice back on the other end of the radio.

"The hook isn't strong enough to pull the structure."

"Can it hold it in place and stop it from falling?"

"For now."

"Ok, do that then."

Peter, Gamora, and Drax were struggling to enter the building. Falling bricks and debris blocked all logical entrances to the building. Peter could hear children inside the building crying for their parents, scared by the potential of untimely death. Star Lord heard Drax call his name. Peter looked at him. "There is an entrance over here." Peter and Gamora rushed over to where Drax was and entered the building. The hallways were bent out of shape and the support columns were cracked, some were even broken. Children's art that was once hung on the walls lined the floors, covered in dust, ash, and concrete. Peter looked at his teammates and have instructions.

"Get the children out of this… whatever this place is." His teammates nodded in agreement.

A few minutes had passed and Rocket was thinking to himself behind the building. He was interrupted by the sound of cables snapping. He looked down at his grappling hook and saw it starting to give. Rocket started yelling incoherently before turning on his comms again. "Peter!"

"Jesus Rocket, you are literally yelling in my ear."

"That's because the cables are snapping!"

"What cables?"

"Oh, I don't know... THE ONES HOLDING UP THE F*%#ING BUILDING UP!" Peter was silent on the other end of the comms. "Peter?" Silence again. "Peter!"

"We're gonna need a fourth person to get all of these kids out of this place."

"We don't have a fourth person physically capable of doing that, we have a racoon and a tiny tree thing."

"I know… we're not going to get these kids out."

The team worked in silence, running, carrying, and flying children safely out of the crumbling building. They more than doubled their pace, working in silence. Their lighthearted tone suddenly gone as all three of them realized that for the first time, there was no hope. Peter took a pause outside of the building to catch his breath and saw a large, muscular man in a green army outfit barrelling towards the building. He wore a blue sash and a gold helmet. The mob of police and concerned parents parted for him to get to the building. He rushed into the building and the crumbling supports were lifted. "What the?" Kids started levitating out of the building at a faster rate than the whole team could have done. Gamora and Drax walked out clearly confused.

Drax laughed. "That man made things float. He's so much better than you. You can't do anything." Drax bent over, cramping from his hysterics.

"I can fly, and I'm a good shot." Peter defended. Drax couldn't respond as he was struggling to breathe from laughing so hard. Gamora looked at Star Lord.

"I mean, you can't do any of those things without machines." Drax on the floor laughed harder.

"Your girlfriend thinks you suck!" Gamora have him a swift kick to the gut.

"I'm not his girlfriend."

"I mean…" Star Lord started to say before seeing a sword at his throat. "Yep, you're not my girlfriend." he said with a nervous laugh as Gamora put her sword away. Peter looked around and the team was joined by Groot and Rocket. He saw so many children, hugging their crying mothers. He thought back to his mom, dead. He will never hug her like that ever again. He missed her, and once again found himself on the verge of tears. No matter how many times he thought about her, the pain never went away. He was awoken from thought by rocket pulling on his pant leg.

"The man is coming out of the building." Peter walked up to the man and greeted him. The man spoke in a deep voice with a thick southern accent.

"I know who you are. It's nice for you Guardians to finally come visit us in Colorado. Peter's face paled in shock.

"C-Colorado, Earth?"

"The one and only, I'm from Missouri you know."

Peter quickly said goodbye and walked over to his team.

"Ok guys, let's get of this planet."

"But Peter," Rocket said. "There's a news reporter with the same name as your mom."

"OK Rocket, were leaving anyways." Rocket looked at the reporter talking.

"At least tell her that you're not doing the interview.

"Fine Rocket."

Peter walked towards the reporter. She had short brown hair like his mother before the chemo. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the emotional onslaught that facing someone so similar to his mother, in the same state that she died. He tapped her on the shoulder, "Ma'am, we need to leave, sorry we can't conduct the interview." he said without making eye contact with her. The reporter dropped her pen and pad. She gasped.

"Peter?"

"How do you know my name?" He said before looking up at her face. He paled again, she had the same face as his mother, and the same voice. She even had the same birthmark under her chin. "Mom?"

 _AN: Good day fluff-enjoying people. This is the first time I'm writing anything so, flames are welcomed. I know, but if you have a reason for a flame, say it. On a slightly related note, I am sorry for the predictability and the amount of random chance that had to happen to make this chapter seem even believable, but... you know, this is set up. If you see a grammar mistake or have a suggestion, let me know. Like I said, FLAMES ARE ALLOWED._


	2. Mom?

_Thank you to Brinaynay and Beloved Daughter for your feedback. Furthermore, thank you everyone who read this story and sticked through the coincidence of the first chapter. This one has some less subtle Star Lord/Gamora shipping. Without further ado... Let us continue the story!_

His mom hugged him tightly, tears dripping from her eyes.

"I've missed you so much honey."

"But, you were dead." Peter said crying now.

"I know, honey. I know."

"But… how are you here?" Peter stepped back, breaking the embrace with his mother. She gasped from the sudden movement.

"Ego, your dad… put the tumor in my brain." She paused, thinking about her 'death' all those years ago. "So, when he died, everyone he directly hurt was healed by the other celestials."

"How do you know he died?"

"The celestial that healed me told me that Ego had died. He thought I would be sad."

"You weren't?"

"Before I died I had figured out what he did. You old woman isn't stupid you know." Peter smiled and embraced her again. "I love you Peter."

"I love you too mom, it's like you never left. I'm glad you're back."

"Me too son."

Peter felt a strong hand pull him away from his mother. When he looked up he saw Gamora between him and his mother, sword drawn, point at her throat. "Who are you and what do you want with Peter?" Gamora yelled at Meredith. Peter put his hand on Gamora's shoulder.

"Gamora, she's my mom." Peter's words fell on deaf ears. Meredith did not respond do Gamora.

"I said, who are you!" Gamora repeated pushing the sword's tip closer to Meredith's neck. Meredith only smiled until she spoke,

"If you're the one protecting my Peter, he's in good hands."

"Your Peter? What does that mean?"

"Peter said it best, I'm his mom."

"No. She's dead." Peter pulled Gamora away from his mother and looked at her in her eyes. Eyes filled with confusion and rage.

"Gamora, can I talk to you for a minute?" Peter led Gamora by her hand went behind the building. He explained how she was healed by a celestial and how she was back. Gamora looked at Peter, a pitiful look forming on her green face.

"Peter, I just don't trust her. After watching your heart break when your father became a disappointment I don't think you could take another blow like that." Peter smiled at the care shown in his (girl?)friend's face.

"Gamora…" he said softly. "I'm not a little kid, I can take it."

"I know Peter… It's just that it seems like too much of a coincidence."

"It's just that Gamora, a coincidence. A very happy moment of chance. After so much bad luck in my life, it finally works in my favor."

"I know, but you were so happy when you saw your father. When he turned out to be a universe, destroying douche you were crushed. Pete, your heart can't take more pain." Her voice softened, "I can't watch you take more pain." Peter hugged her. He stayed in her arms for a while, touched by her care for him. "Gamora… I have to trust that she's real. If I leave her here, and she is actually my mother…"  
"OK Peter," Gamora whispered, Peter pulled away smiling, thanking her and running off to his mother. "Be careful…" Gamora said quietly to Peter though he was far out of hearing range. She walked slowly back into the Milano, thinking warmly of her hug with Peter. She was smiling as she entered the ship.

"What's got you so happy?" Rocket said from behind some large gun he was tinkering with.

"Nothing" She said unconvincingly.

"Uh-huh" Rocket said.

Peter ran in excitedly shortly after Gamora trailed by his mother. "Mom! This is the coolest part of space, this is the ship and my team. I've driven this rust bucket for 10 years and she's never let me down. Back there is Rocket, he likes to build an blow stuff up. His little buddy is Groot. Groot is kind of like a living plant." Groot walks up to Meredith and hugs her leg.

"I am Groot." Meredith starts gushing at the sight of the tiny creature.

"OH MY GOD! He is so adorable. You get to live with him? Oh that is the most precious thing. I just want to squeeze him." She picks Groot up and gives him a large hug.

"I am Groot." Groot hops up onto her shoulder and sits there while Peter introduces the rest of the team. He points to the back of the ship.

"Over there are Mantis and Drax. Mantis stays on the ship most of the time since her powers are pretty useless on the battlefield.

"Drax says I'm worthless and ugly!" Mantis said excitedly, probably more excited to say those words than she should be.

"You are, it's funny." roared Drax from next to her. Meredith looked at Peter concern on her face. Peter giggled. "That's Drax, he's um, loud. Yeah, that's the word, loud." Meredith smiled at her son. Peter pointed at Gamora, "This is Gamora mom, we kind of have an unspoken thing going on."

"No we don't" Gamora said, back to her cold self. A stark contrast from their earlier conversation.

"Sure we don't. " Peter said, dripping with sarcasm. He winked at his mam. She laughed at the goofiness of her son.

"If you do ever have a thing going on, I'm glad you're so protective."

"I was only protective because I thought you were a threat, it has nothing to do with my feelings for Peter."

"So you have feelings for me?" Peter chimed in with a smirk.

"I was saying lack there of, but you cut me off." defended Gamora, a pink blush creeping up her green cheeks.

"Anyway," Peter said turning back to his mom. "Do you want to travel space with us for a little while?"

"You should check with your friends first," Peter turned to his friends and gave them all puppy dog eyes. Rocket and Drax shrugged. He looked down at Gamora in her chair.

"Please Gamora." She looked hesitant. "Pleeeeeease?"

"Fine." Gamora said.

"Yes!" Peter yelled pumping his fist. "This is gonna be so great!"

 _AN: Good day fluff-enjoying people. I hope this fulfilled a some of your fluff needs and it showed you guys what kind of writer I am. I have a few ideas for some one shots so I might not update a story as fast as I did this chapter. Thank you for reading and as always FLAMES ARE ALLOWED._


	3. The Turning Point

Hi everyone. Special thanks to Brinaynay and Badgerkat for the feedback. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

It had been three weeks for the Guardians of the Galaxy since Meredith Quill boarded the Milano. She was starting to get on everybody's nerves. Everybody, except Peter that is. Meredith opinion on the Guardians had changed as well. She once saw baby groot as adorable, but his inability to articulate had started to drive her crazy. Rocket's anti-social tendencies had kept him away from her for most of her visit. She was glad about that, the less she could smell of that trash panda, the better. Draw and Mantis were a cute couple in the beginning, but their night time noises next door caused her to get little sleep.

Meredith was watching the intergalactic news channel. The aggravating anchors wouldn't stop going on about the biggest news story of the year. For the past month they had been fretting non-stop about the escape of the mutant Proteus. He is on the top 25 list of most dangerous mutants by Charles Xavier. He escaped custody of the X-men and displayed. He hasn't been seen since. Meredith was distracted from the boring program when Gamora came out of her room and passed by. Meredith stopped her. "Gamora?" The last of the Zen-Whoberi turned around.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to say that Peter is kind of in love with you and I don't approve."

"I don't care if you approve or not because there is nothing between us."

"Really.?"

"Yes really." Peter walked in on the conversation.

"Really what?" he asked.

"Nothing." the two girls said in unison.

"Good." replied their captain with a hint of scepticism in his voice. "Because we have a mission."

"Yes! I'm so happy I could hug you!" Shouts Gamora, realizing how badly she needs to stretch her arms. She turned towards Meredith thinking about their recent conversational what she just said to Peter. Meredith smirked with the satisfaction of knowing she was right.

"Save that for later. A Betan and two 3 Autocrons are trying to steal some Teragen from Shi'ar Imperium." Gamora looked at Peter, mouth agape in confusion.

"I understood the word steal and that's about it. I know you know a lot about aliens and space being a pirate and all, but English please."

"Right, sorry." Peter said chuckling. Gamora smiled softly. She secretly enjoyed his chuckling. "A big purple flying thing and three robots are trying to steal a dangerous rock from a nearby planet. We are on course for arrival in 12 minutes. Get ready." Peter ran off to the captain's room.

As Peter had predicted, in twelve minutes they exited the last jump point on their journey. When they emerged from the light, they saw the Betan killing several Shi'arian guards and two of the reported three Autocrons grabbing the Teragen from its pedestal. Rocket, from the gunner's seat, yelled back to the rest of the team, "Yo! Quill! Where's the third Octocron you promised."

"It's autocron," Peter said while pointing out the front windshield. "And there it is." A gray ship was flying full speed at the Milano. Rocket barely had time to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid a head on collision with a small spacecraft. "Lower us down to the ground, Rocket! Gamora, Drax, and I will stop the theft, you three stay on the ship and shoot down the ship before it shoots you. With that Peter touched his neck and deployed his mask, flying away from the cargo doors. Gamora and Drax quickly followed their captain off the ship.

The autocrons and the Betan turned when they heard the heavy thud of Dead landing on the rock platform. Gamora landed very shortly after him startling the theifs. The three robbers looked at each other before the Betan shoved the Teragen into his satchel. He then started to run at the green guardians with a war cry. Gamora and Drax unsheathed their blades prepared for a fight and sprinted at the charging alien. They were about to clash when the Betan jumped into the air avoiding swings from both Gamora and Drax. Small wings unfolded from its back and it took off. It turned at them smirking and waving, thinking himself victorious, until Star Lord slammed into him knocking the grin off his face. The two intertwined in a midair wrestle flying in dangerous patterns, one trying to kill the other and vice-versa.

Down on the ground Gamora and Drax were both having very one-sided fights with the autocrons. They landed many killing blows on both of the creatures, but for to their iron based bodies, the blades never pierced skin. Drax was repeatedly stabbing his autocron who had fallen to the ground. The blue skinned creature tried to shield its face with its hands but to no avail, Drax's blades were relentless. The only thing that could distract him from his enemy was when an explosion in the sky occurred and shrapnel rained down on the combatants and even that only made him lose focus for only a minute before returning to battering his foe. Gamora was next to him slashing at her enemy who was standing but like his partner in the fact that he was defenseless.

Back above his teammates Rocket watched Peter still engaged with the Betan warrior. The purple fists made often contact with his face, it was clear Peter was losing this battle. Meredith ran up behind him. "We got to do something!" she yelled.

"Like what?"

"Shoot him, I guess."

"Peters too close, it'll kill him. It's to risky. No way."

" Damn it! Fine then, open the cargo doors." Rocket looked up at her with confusion, not understanding her idea but complied. He pushed some buttons on the control panel and nodded to Meredith.

Peter's mother ran to the back of the ship and held on for dear life. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a pistol from earth. Rocket looked back and saw what she was doing. "Are you crazy? You're gonna shoot your son!" Meredith didn't respond, she was lost in focus aiming her gun at the alien beating her son. The Betan had him plummeting to the rocky surface below with clear disregard for his own life. Meredith squeezed the trigger and landed her shot. It hit the Betan in the shoulder forcing him to release Star Lord. She shot again and the bullet lodged itself into the purple skull of its target. The Betan went limp and fell with a thud onto the planet below. The Autocrons both got up and fled due to the death of their leader. Rocket landed the ship and the guardians entered. Peter ran to his mother and embraced her.

"Thanks for the save ma."

"Anytime son, anytime."

The rest of the guardians let the moment be for a while before Peter left to enter the mission In the captain's log. Gamora tapped Meredith on the shoulder, "Thank you for helping out, but we need to talk about that gun."

"You don't trust me?" Gamora hesitated. "You don't trust me. What will Peter think?" Gamora paled.

"We'll find out when I tell him." She ran off to get her son leaving the guardians to look at each other silently bracing for the moment where Peter would have to take one side of an argument between his mother and the other side of his unspoken thing.

 _Hey everyone, I'm sorry that its been so long but work has been kicking my $$. I plan to write at least once a week from June 25th to July 30th. I'm also probably gonna get 1 or 2 more things out before then. Once again I am sorry and as always... flames are allowed (with reason)_


	4. Guns and Ships

_Hi everyone, I wanted to preface this by saying thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed so far. You have no idea how much it means to me. Anyway, on with the story._

Meredith left her argument with Gamora and sprinted into the captain's quarters. She had a small spat with Gamora about trust issues and she looked to get Peter to take a side. She found her son sitting on his bed watching Channel 52 News where the anchors were still going on about Proteus. Peter looked at his mom, "What's up?"

"Do you trust me Peter."

"Of course."

"Then can you come with me please?" Peter nodded and followed his mother. She led him back into the Cargo Bay where the other guardians still sat in silence.

Meredith pointed in frustration at Gamora while looking at her son and started to yell, "This alien bitch doesn't trust me at all!" All the color drained from Gamora's face as she looked down in a mix of shame, embarrassment, and rage. After all, in her mind there was no way that Peter would take her side. She didn't expect him to. It was his mother, the one person he cared about more than her. Meredith continued ranting. "I had a gun in my back pocket for three weeks and it caused no trouble, no one knew about it because it never was used. Then the one time that I used my gun, it was to save you."

"Hold on, why do you even have a gun?" Questioned Drax.

"Hun, I'm a single lady in colorado, of course I have a gun."

"The ship has a no guns rule. I'm just asking you to follow it." Gamora said plainly.

"Wait, wait, wait. This ship has a no guns rule. Rocket plays with guns all of the time."  
"But none of them are functional. Once they get working again, he puts his projects in the guns drawer. Can you just put your pistol in the drawer too? You can take it out during a mission."

"No way. No chance in hell. I'm not separating from my gun. What if that unintelligible buffoon tries to attack me, no one knows what he's thinking."

"I am Groot." Rocket translated for the team. It turns out Groot said, "If you call me the unintelligible buffoon again I will attack you."

"See." Said Meredith, "He's aggressive and dangerous." Rocket and Groot both stood up. "Peter…" Meredith said softly and motherly. "Who do you think is right, a bunch of dangerous aliens or your dear mother just trying to protect herself." Peter remained silent for a while.

"Couldn't you just put the gun in the drawer, it's a rule and it's not fair to have any exceptions." Martha's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? You're taking their side over mine? I'm your mother god damn it!"

"Mom… If there is a misfire it could puncture the hull of the ship. That would mean death for everyone. The rule is not to be mean, it's meant to preserve the safety of the team." Peter looked at her, noticeably saddened by the spat. He went off to his room silently, Gamora running after him.

Meredith watched that for a second and looked back at Drax, Groot, Rocket and Mantis. "How dare you come in the way between me and my son! I was revived with the hope to see him again. I longed to see his face again and now that I'm here, I'm surrounded by insensible idiots from another planet. Just saying, my last encounter with an alien ended with a tumor in my brain." Mantis stood up and walked over to Meredith.

"Let me show you where the gun drawer is." Mantis placed a hand on Meredith's bare arm. Meredith slapped her hand away.

"Don't touch me, freak." Meredith stormed away to the dining hall. When Mantis touched Meredith, she sensed her emotions. She sensed anger, fear and something else. Meredith was hiding something. A dark past she was trying to keep away from the team for now. Mantis knew what the secret was, what her past was, what Meredith was doing on this ship. The truth engulfed her like a blackness, causing her to drop to her knees. Mantis's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she slumped over from the shock and the emotions of Meredith overwhelming the telepath in a way she had never been overwhelmed before. Meredith had so many conflicting emotions that it physically hurt Mantis to sense them. Drax ran to her side. "Mantis?" He said in his deep voice, more quiet than he perhaps had ever spoken. Mantis was shivering and in a cold sweat, her eyes closed she said just one word before submitting to sleep, "Rage."

 _AN: Hello, fluff enjoying people. Just a quick update, I am still planning on uploading once a week for the next five (or more) weeks and I am working on the start of some other stories in other fandoms. I'm going to put up a poll on my author page (or wherever polls go on this site, I've never done one before) and if you want to vote on which fandom I should write about next go and do that. As always, flames are allowed._


	5. Captain's Quarters

Hello fluff-loving people. This is a bit of a shorter chapter but it's a nice little fluffy moment. Without further ado, on with the story.

After arguing with his mother, Peter stormed into the captain's quarters. He threw his stuff down on his bed and lay down face up, his feet hanging over the side of the bed. He closed his eyes and he lost himself in his thought. He couldn't believe that his mom is back. It's been three weeks and he still can't get used to it. It's almost everything he could have ever hoped for. Almost. His mother and Gamora have been butting heads since Meredith's arrival. They acted chummy but Peter knew his friend better than she knew he did. He saw it in her face, the anger when Meredith would interrupt in the two's conversations. He saw the dissapointment when Meredith would insert herself between Peter and Gamora. And most of all, he saw the sadness when Merdith would turn away from her when she tried to make peace. Peter got unusually depressed and sunk further into his bed and thoughts until he was disrupted by the presence of another sitting on his bed. "Go away, whoever you are." He felt no movement but got no reply. "I said go away god damn it!" The person was silent but Peter felt a soft hand on his cheek. He opened his eyes and saw Gamora. Immediately he sat upright, put on a fake smile and looked at her. "Oh, Gamora." He chuckled. "Didn't see you there." Gamora's hand still lingered down near the bed long after Peter's head left the spot it was. She looked into his eyes with a look that consisted of a mix of understanding and sympathy.

"I know that was hard Pete. Your mom pitting you against me. You don't have to pick me, she's your mom after all. Having to choose like that must have been really tough, especially when you had to tell her that she was wrong."

"A rule is a rule. I've got to keep order on my ship." Peter said smiling. He forceda laugh to come from his lip, as if trying to assure both himself and Gamora that the arguement hasn't affected his mental state.

"Peter…" She grabbed his hand off the bed and clasped both of her's on his. "You don't have to lie. I see it. It was tough. You don't have to pretend that it wasn't hard on you. You don't have to pretend that it is ok. You don't have to pretend that you are ok." She let go of his hand and hugged him. His arms hung limp at his side for a moment before slowly bringing his arms around her. They say there for a moment before she kissed his cheek and got up. She walked to the door, paused, and turned back to him. "You can talk to me, you know. An unspoken thing doesn't nesicerily include not speaking, no matter what the name suggests." Peter nodded to her and smiled.

"So there is an unspoken thing?"

"Shut up." Gamora said rolling her eyes. She left the room and Peter laid back onto his bed. He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

 _AN:_ _ **IMPORTANT**_ _: if you want a say in an upcoming fic vote on the poll that's in my profile. I thank each and every one of you for reading my story and giving it life and as always, flames are allowed. Until next time, read more fluff._


	6. More Than Meets the Eye

_Hello Fluff loving people of the internet. It's been a year of this fic, filled with, I'm not gonna lie, bad ideas and procrastination. But without further ado, I give you the finale. I hope you like it and don't kill me. Also, shout out to Mobiblue and Fangirlkitten02. Thank you guys so much._

The Milano had been floating around space for over two weeks straight with no real respite for any of the crew. Everyone was getting restless, especially Rocket. He has assembled and disassembled everything on this ship several times and was bored out of his mind. "I gotta get something to do." He complained.

"I am Groot."

"I know, but Pete has kept us in the air for ages. These claws need practice."

"I am Groot."

"I know I've touched all the tech on here… not all of it exactly."

"I am Groot."

"Oh come on, you big baby. She won't even know I touched it. It's just a pistol."

"I am Groot." Rocket walked out of his room ignoring the objections from his partner in crime. His search for technology to experiment on brought him to the weapons drawer, the same one that Meredith was forced to put her pistol in a few weeks ago. Since that moment, she was quieter. She didn't object to Gamora as much, she didn't try to boss Peter around, and best of all, she didn't get angry at Rocket for making a mess while he worked. Reaching into his belt, Rocket pulled out a pair of lockpicks and worked on the lock of the weapons drawer. "I am Groot."

"Shut. Up. I'll return it just like I found - It's not here." Rocket looked around in a panic. "It's not here." He started to run around, turning things over and knocking things off of shelves. A glass vase wobbled and fell to the floor, shattering. "Damn it." Muttered Rocket. Hearing the crash, Peter, Gamora, and Meredith ran in.

"Rocket! Are you Ok? What happened?" Asked Peter. Rocket stared straight at Ms. Quill, ignoring Star Lord's concern. "You psycho." He yelled. "Where is your gun? When did you take it? How did you get into the drawer. Tell me!" He yelled, getting closer to MEredith as he yelled. Peter stepped in between his mother and Rocket.

"Slow down man. Stop throwing wild accusations at my mom."

"Wild accusations? Bull shit. She has her pistol."

"What." Peter says, shook on his face, tripping over his words. "That-th-that's not possible." Peter ran to the weapon's drawer and dug around in it. The glock isn't there. "You must have done something with it." He said to Rocket.

"Yeah." Meredith chimed in, "The trash panda took my pistol and is framing me. He has no evidence on me." Peter ran over to the computer on board. "What are you doing Pete?"

"Clearing your name. The weapons drawer has a chip that records the time and date every time it is opened. I'll find the log and show that it hasn't been opened since you put the gun in it and show that you're innocent. Meredith's face paled as Peter spoke, all of the color draining.

"N-no Peter. It's ok. I forgive Rocket, you don't need to check the logs." Peter kept typing away.

"I got this mom."

"Honey, you really don't need to."

"Yes. I do. You haven't been treated without unwarranted suspicion since you came aboard. I think it is time that that sto- hey." He leaned in closer to the blue glow of the screen, unable to believe what he was reading.

"What is it Peter?" Gamora asked, walking to a spot besides Meredith as she tried to peer over Pete's shoulder to see what was on the display.

"It was opened in between putting the pistol in and today. That can't be right." Meredith slowly backed away from the chair and more towards the door. Peter pulled files all around looking for the security footage from that time stamp. A video is pulled up and projected onto every screen on the ship. Everyone sees the same footage.

 _Meredith walked up to the weapons drawer. She jiggled the wooden box, trying to get it open with no success. She looked around as if trying to make sure no one was there and placed her finger on the lock. Her finger turned a bright blue, a glow emanating from it, as if electricity was pulsing from underneath. She twisted her blue finger and the lock turned. The drawer popped open._

Peter's eyes widened as he watched the scene unfold on the display screen in front of him. He watched as his eyes showed him his mother taking the pistol from the drawer, closing it, her finger turning flesh colored, and her running away, tucking the pistol back into her coat pocket. "See?" Rocket said rhetorically. "She broke into the drawer and took her pistol." He turned to look at Meredith, cowering on the outside of the circle of creatures. "She's practically running away, only guilty people do that. Trust me, I've done that same move many times." Peter got out of his seat, turning to face his mother. His eyes were wet.

"Mom? What did I just see?" Meredith chuckled nervously.

"Would you believe that the video was doctored." Peter just shook his head. He wiped a tear from his eye with his leather sleeve.

"What did you do with your finger. Mom? What was that?"

"I guess the jig is up." Meredith said, her voice significantly lowered in defeat.

"What jig? Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I'm not your mom, Peter."

"Then where is she?" Peter asked, clearly not understanding what was going on. Meredith's hair disappeared, leaving baldness. Her skin wrinkled and greyed, looking withered and ashen. Her eyes were enveloped in black. Peter's eyes widened in fear. He stepped backwards stumbling over a step, falling onto his back. He looked up at the creature where his mother was a moment ago.

"Dear old mom is six feet under, punk." Peter gasped. He drew his blaster and took several shots at the beast.

"You killed her! You'll pay for what you've done. I'll kill you!" The thing grew holes where the blaster shots would have hit, allowing them to pass right through. Blue glow emitted from where the holes opened up.

"You already killed your mother's killers when Ego died." The beast stretched it's arm out, everywhere the flesh stretched, the same blue glow emanated. In clearer light, the guardians where able to see electric blue blots racing underneath the blue skin of whatever infiltrated their ship. It's hand gripped the blaster and ripped it from Star Lord's hand.

Gamora was the first of the team to act, sinking her sword into the gut of the creature from behind. It gasped, and its disguise dropped. It's clothes melted away, it's skin all turned blue like the sky. It's eyes were a darker blue, the whole body was anthropomorphic and featureless. Peter gasped again, he knew that face. He had seen it on the news for the past two months, Proteus was here. Proteus gripped the sword, his mouth wide open. Soon his gasps turned into a deep hearty laugh. His head twisted around 180 degrees, his dark blue eyes staring into Gamora's black eyes. The green alien's face of anger slowly shifted into one of fear. Her jaw dropped. "What's wrong?" Proteus mocked. "Can't stab an anthropomorphic blob?" His arm twisted around slapping Gamora across the room, her sword being left in Proteus. The mutant grabbed the sword, drawing it out of his body. "It's time for some revenge."

Rocket shot several rounds into Proteus, drawing his attention. The blue beast charged at Rocket, who dodged a strike with the sword but couldn't avoid the kick that followed. Rocket flew across the room, crashing into a table as he landed heavily. Drawing his knifes, Drax pushed forward with a battle cry. "Die bad guy!" Proteus quickly ended Drax's charge by stretching his arm, pinning Drax to the wall. Drax struggled as Proteus's blobby hands filled Drax's mouth and nose cutting off his air supply. Groot saved Drax by grabbing Proteus's outstretched arm and flinging him into the control panel, breaking several switches and levers.

The Milano pulled out of hyperspeed and started to spin, pinning everyone's bodies against the walls. Groot ran along the side of the room, stomping on Proteus's prone body before laying down a series of punches the the mutant. Proteus sensed a pattern in Groot's series of rights and lefts, dodging them, letting Groot punch and destroy more of the control panel. As more controls got broken, the Milano stopped it's spiral, slamming everyone's bodies to the ground. Proteus spouted a limb from his stomach shoving Groot into the cargo bay. The limb hit a lever on the other side of the door from Groot, sealing him in alone. Turning around, Proteus found the lever on the panel that opened the cargo bay door, it was snapped at its base. Groaning, Proteus morphed a finger into a rigid stick and fused it with the remains of the lever. Flicking his finger, the cargo bay opened to the vacuum of space. Groot hung on for his life as he was lifted from his feet.

With Proteus turned to the control's Peter found a spare blaster and fired several laser's into Proteus's back. Sparks and bolts of electricity jumped from the spots where Peter's shots landed. Proteus sucked air in through gritted teeth, charging at Star Lord. Peter dropped his blaster as Proteus rammed him against the wall. The blue man sidestepped a swing from Gamora, wielding her other sword. He kicked her and sent her flying away, drawing a punch from Peter that bounced of Proteus, doing nothing. Mantis walked out from her room, "What is going on out here? I was slee- EEEK!" She let out a shriek as Proteus extend an arm, slamming her back into her room and jamming the door, keeping her out of the fight.

Drax looked around at the scene before him. Rocket was unconscious against the broken table, Mantis was locked in her room, Groot was stuck trying not to get sucked into space. Proteus was picking them off one by one. Drax charged again yelling. Proteus saw him coming only from the loud noise he made and was easily able to throw Drax into the controls. Sparks flew as Drac's heavy body tore the large control panel in half. Along with the many functions of the Milano now gone, the artificial gravity was one of them. Drax's body floated around, now unconscious from the shocks of going through sensitive electronics. Gamora pushed off of a wall, shoving Proteus against the floor. The mutant pushed upwards, pinning Gamora to the ceiling with a choke. Within 60 seconds Gamora lost consciousness. Proteus groaned as another shot from Peter's blaster connected with his back sending more bolts of electricity around his body. Star Lord pressed the button on his neck and his mask appeared along with the activation of his propulsion system around his ankles. Peter knocked Proteus off of Gamora, flying through the Milano and colliding into him with a hard impact. Peter pushed Proteus against a wall and pinned him there with his boosters. "Why are you doing this?" Peter screamed. His voice cracked, his breathing was heavy.

"Because I hate you Peter. I'm a bad guy, you caught me, I escaped. I wanted to get revenge. I wanted to break you. I wanted to fuck with your mind." Peter punched Proteus across the face, more out of anger than intent to harm, he knew it would do nothing.

"My mother was never alive, was she?"

"Now you're getting the hang of it."

"You bastard!" Peter yelled punching again. He pulled Proteus off of the wall and into the ruins of the control panel. As Proteus's body slammed into the exposed electronics he screamed, the zapping connecting with the electricity in his body. The artificial gravity turned back on slamming all of the unconscious bodies unceremoniously to the metal floor. Proteus jumped at Peter enraged, slamming him into the floor. He stretched his feet over the ankle thrusters, crushing them. He reached a hand out and squeezed against Peter's throat. Peter thrashed and struggled.

"Goodby Peter. You deserve this" Star Lord's eyes watered, he gasped for air with empty breaths, his vision turned blurry before darkening. Without warning he could breathe again. Turning his head he saw Proteus pinned against the wall in a net.

"Boom Bitch." Rocket said holding a net launcher.

"This won't hold me." Proteus said seeping his body through the gaps in the netting.

"No, but this will." Rocket flipped a switch on the gun and the black netting turned blue with electricity. Proteus screamed loudly as the current ran through him. He breathed heavily before letting out one last loud scream and bursting into a cloud of blue dust.

Peter fell to his knees in tears. His mother was never back. He had a mother ripped from him by cancer. He found his father who turned evil and had to kill. He finally though he could be with his mother again, but she too turned evil and he watched the man who impersonated her die in front of him. The universe was taunting him with the promise of a parental figure only to rip it away from him again and again. Gamora woke and walked over to Peter, holding his kneeling crying form to her. She removed his mask and ran her hands through his hair. Drax helped Mantis out of her room and Rocket closed the cargo bay door, saving Groot. Peter took a gasp, breaking from his sobs long enough to say. "I'm alone. I have no family." Gamora kissed his forehead and rested his head on her chest. "No. You're not alone. The guardians are you're family. You're not alone."

 _Tada. Liked it? Didn't like it? Let me know. As always, flames are allowed. Side note about_ _Infinity_ _War: Why is Gamora? Specifically, why is Gamora dead?_


End file.
